Ted Rall: Smart Young People Who Snub Politics Are Smart
If we want leftie - most young people are - bright young things to enter public service, public service is going to have to change first. Obviously, that doesn't seem likely. So if you're a smart, energetic young person who wants to change the world, there's still a place to do that. Not in Congress. In the streets.
The extremely wide variety of body types among top-tier athletes [14 pictures]
When most of us think of being "fit," we tend to picture a pretty narrow range of body type. But New York-based photographer Howard Schatz wants to blow those stereotypes up by showing how many types of (very fit) bodies are required for the numerous sports that we humans take part in.
Chris Bucholz: 5 Dumb Writing Gimmicks That Became Classic Books (Cracked)
We like our stories to be a little bit conventional. We like beginnings and middles and ends, and catchphrases and slow-motion explosions and kisses in the rain. We want to see heroes win and villains get steam pipes thrown through them and dogs cover their eyes with their paws when something embarrassing happens.
David Bruce: Wise Up! Art (Athens News)
• While the noted portraitist Patrick Tuohy was painting the noted author James Joyce, the two men started talking, with Mr. Tuohy saying that it was important for a portraitist to capture the subject's soul in the painting. Mr. Joyce disagreed, saying, "Just be sure you have my tie right."
"Smoke on the Water" by the British rock band Deep Purple tells the story of a fire at the Montreux Casino. What musical group was playing the casino that night?
According to Guinness World Records, the holiday perennial "White Christmas" (1942) by Bing Crosby is the best-selling single worldwide, with estimated sales of over 50 million copies. The song recognized as "the best-selling single of all time" was released before the pop/rock singles-chart era and "was listed as the world's best-selling single in the first-ever Guinness Book of Records (published in 1955) and- remarkably - still retains the title more than 50 years later." Guinness World Records states that double A-side charity single "Candle in the Wind 1997"/"Something About the Way You Look Tonight" (1997) by Elton John, a tribute to the late Diana, Princess of Wales, is "the biggest-selling single since UK and US singles charts began in the 1950s, having accumulated worldwide sales of 33 million copies," making it the second best-selling single of all time.
Source
Alan J was first, and correct, with:
White Christmas
Lois Of the North Pole in Oregon said:
White Christmas, White Christmas, White Christmas! I so sick
of all this WHITE! How about a Black Christmas for a
change!?! It's true what they say, you know; Black Santa HAS
got more to stuff in your stocking!
@ Joe...that was a touching story about how you magically
turned a handful of change into cheap wine. Reminded me of
the time I turned a bad date into a case of the crabs.
Charlie wrote:
I learned this somewhat bothersome fact a few years ago from some Penn and Teller show (it bothered them as well).
Wikipedia:
The Guinness Book of Records in 2007 stated that "Candle in the Wind 1997" is the biggest-selling single "since records began", but that Bing Crosby's "White Christmas" has sold the most copies. The record of this version was produced by George Martin.
OK, I'm not such a big Elton John fan anyway, though he has done some good stuff. On the album I always preferred "Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding" (which is the track before "Candle in the Wind").
Jim from CA, retired to ID, responded:
Elton John: "Candle In The Wind '97
Adam answered:
Oh, right- White Christmas.
Marian replied:
Bing Crosby's White Christmas
Sally said:
According to Guinness World Records, "White Christmas," by Bing Crosby (1942), is the all-time best-selling single worldwide.
PS: Well, my daughter/husband scored tickets for the Billy Joel concert on New Year's Eve. The gks and I will build our traditional, "Times Square" in Legos.
I go to bed so early anymore, I am hoping that I won't fall asleep on Lego Square by 8 PM!
What we won't do for the golden gks, huh?
PPS: JoeS, loved your 'tall tale!' Hope Lois from Oregon, will take it with the proverbial grain of salt...
Dale of waiting for the snow Friday Diamond Springs, Freezing Norcali, responded:
"White Christmas" (1942) by Bing Crosby is the best-selling single worldwide, with estimated sales of over 50 million copies. No comment!
CBS opens the night with a FRESH'Big Bang Theory', followed by a FRESH'The Millers', then a FRESH'The Crazy Ones', followed by a FRESH'2½ Men', then a FRESH'Elementary'.
On a RERUNDave (from 11/20/13) are Jennifer Lawrence and Taraji P. Henson.
Scheduled on a FRESHCraig are Anjelica Huston and Jackie Guerrido.
NBC fills the night with the FRESH'The Sound Of Music Live!' (it's not live on the left coast).
On a RERUNLeno (from 9/12/13) are Hugh Jackman, Aisha Tyler, and OneRepublic.
On a RERUNJimmy Fallon (from 11/13/13) are Ice-T, Sony PS4 video game demo, and Thomas Rhett.
On a RERUNCarson 'The Scab' Daly (from 11/7/13) are Michelle Trachtenberg, No, and Matt Knudsen.
ABC starts the night with a FRESH'Once Upon A Time In Wonderland', followed by a FRESH'Grey's Anatomy', then a FRESH'Scandal'.
Scheduled on a FRESHJimmy Kimmel are Jason Schwartzman, Guillermo Diaz, and Jake Owen.
The CW offers a FRESH'The Vampire Diaries', followed by a FRESH'Reign'.
Scheduled on a FRESHArsenio Hall are R. Kelly and Mike E. Winfield.
Faux has a FRESH'The X Factor', followed by a FRESH'Glee'.
MY recycles an old 'House', followed by another old 'House'.
AMC offers the movie 'Shooter', followed by the movie 'National Lampoon's Animal House', then the movie 'Pulp Fiction'.
BBC -
[6:00AM] BBC WORLD NEWS
[7:00AM] BBC WORLD NEWS
[8:00AM] DOCTOR WHO - Season 4 - Ep 1 - Partners in Crime
[9:00AM] TORCHWOOD - Season 2 - Ep 4 - Meat
[10:00AM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - Season 6 - Ep 24 - Second Chances
[11:00AM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - Season 6 - Ep 25 - Timescape
[12:00PM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - Season 6 - Ep 26 - Descent, Part 1
[1:00PM] RAMSAY'S KITCHEN NIGHTMARES US - Season 4 - Ep 11 - Oceana
[2:00PM] RAMSAY'S KITCHEN NIGHTMARES REVISITED US - Season 4 - Ep 1 - Revisited: Down City, Classic American, Davide
[3:00PM] RAMSAY'S KITCHEN NIGHTMARES US - Season 2 - Ep 3 - Trobiano's
[4:00PM] TOP GEAR - Season 8 - Episode 7
[5:00PM] TOP GEAR - Season 8 - Episode 8
[6:00PM] RAMSAY'S KITCHEN NIGHTMARES US - Season 5 - Ep 3 - Mike & Nellie's
[7:00PM] RAMSAY'S KITCHEN NIGHTMARES US - Season 4 - Ep 8 - La Frite
[8:00PM] RAMSAY'S KITCHEN NIGHTMARES US - Season 6 - Ep 2 - La Galleria 33, Part 2
[9:00PM] RAMSAY'S KITCHEN NIGHTMARES US - Season 6 - Ep 3 - Mama Maria'sNEW
[10:00PM] RAMSAY'S KITCHEN NIGHTMARES US - Season 5 - Ep 13 - Cafe Hon
[11:00PM] RAMSAY'S KITCHEN NIGHTMARES US - Season 6 - Ep 2 - La Galleria 33, Part 2
[12:00AM] RAMSAY'S KITCHEN NIGHTMARES US - Season 6 - Ep 3 - Mama Maria's
[1:00AM] RAMSAY'S KITCHEN NIGHTMARES US - Season 5 - Ep 13 - Cafe Hon
[2:00AM] RAMSAY'S KITCHEN NIGHTMARES US - Season 2 - Ep 10 - Sante La Brea
[3:00AM] RAMSAY'S KITCHEN NIGHTMARES US - Season 4 - Ep 11 - Oceana
[4:00AM] RAMSAY'S KITCHEN NIGHTMARES REVISITED US - Season 4 - Ep 1 - Revisited: Down City, Classic American, Davide
[5:00AM] RAMSAY'S KITCHEN NIGHTMARES US - Season 2 - Ep 3 - Trobiano's (ALL TIMES EST)
Bravo has 'Millionaire Matchmaker', another 'Millionaire Matchmaker', followed by a FRESH'Millionaire Matchmaker', then a FRESH"Courtney Loves Dallas', followed by a FRESH'100 Days Of Summer', then a FRESH'Watch What Happens Live'.
Comedy Central has last night's 'Colbert Report', last night's 'Jon Stewart', 'Chappelle's Show', 'Key & Peele', 'It's Always Sunny In Philly', another 'It's Always Sunny In Philly', 'Tosh.0', and another 'Tosh.0'.
Scheduled on a FRESHJon Stewart is Jorge Ramos.
Scheduled on a FRESHColbert Report is Allan Mulally.
FX has the movie 'Hall Pass', followed by a FRESH'Anger Management', then the movie 'Hall Pass', again.
History has 3 hours of old 'Pawn Stars', followed by a FRESH'Pawn Stars', then another FRESH'Pawn Stars'.
IFC -
[6:00AM] Comedy Bang! Bang!-Jim Gaffigan Wears a Blue Jacket & Plum T-Shirt
[6:30AM] Comedy Bang! Bang!-Andy Dick Wears a Black Suit Jacket & Skinny Tie
[7:00AM] Comedy Bang! Bang!-Clark Gregg Wears a Navy Blazer & White Collared Shirt
[7:30AM] Pontypool
[9:45AM] The Children
[11:30AM] Hannibal Rising
[2:00PM] Monster's Ball
[4:30PM] Shanghai Noon
[7:00PM] Comedy Bang! Bang!-Clark Gregg Wears a Navy Blazer & White Collared Shirt
[7:30PM] The Birthday Boys-Skewered!
[8:00PM] Gone Baby Gone
[10:30PM] Wonderland
[12:45AM] Wonderland
[3:00AM] Crank: High Voltage
[5:00AM] Comedy Bang! Bang!-Clark Gregg Wears a Navy Blazer & White Collared Shirt
[5:30AM] The Birthday Boys-Skewered! (ALL TIMES EST)
Sundance -
[6:00AM] Rectify-Plato's Cave
[7:00AM] This Way Up
[7:15AM] The Closer You Get
[9:15AM] Robin Hood
[11:30AM] Diner
[2:00PM] Peggy Sue Got Married
[4:15PM] Sixteen Candles
[6:15PM] The Exorcist
[9:00PM] The Returned-Lucy
[10:15PM] From Hell
[12:45AM] The Returned-Lucy
[2:00AM] The Exorcist
[4:45AM] Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty
[5:00AM] Love Lust-Lingerie (ALL TIMES EST)
SyFy has the movie 'Piranhaconda', followed by the movie 'Beast Of The Bering Sea'.
TBS:
Scheduled on a FRESHConan are Jim Parsons, Steve Coogan, and Daniel Sloss.
Actor and comedian Will Ferrell, who plays TV anchorman Ron Burgundy, stays in character as he speaks during a news conference at Emerson College in Boston, Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2013. The school has changed the name of its School of Communication for one day to honor the fictitious television anchorman. Also on the panel are, from left, Phil Glenn, Interim Dean of the School of Communication; Lee Pelton, President of Emerson College; and Muna Moushien, journalist at Emerson College.
Photo by Elise Amendola
Egypt's most popular television satirist, Bassem Youssef, who was pulled off the airwaves last month after mocking the army chief, said on Wednesday the move showed the military-backed rulers were intolerant of opposing views.
Youssef rose to fame after the 2011 uprising that overthrew autocratic president Hosni Mubarak. He had criticized Islamist President Mohamed Mursi who took office after Mubarak and was ousted by the army in July after mass protests against his rule.
"People protested on June 30 (the first day of the protests against Mursi) to put an end to dictatorship and fascism and to welcome freedom of opinion and the first thing to be done was a fight against an opinion," Youssef said in a television interview. "You don't want to hear something that upsets you."
It was Youssef's first TV appearance since his show was shut down on November 1 by the CBC TV channel, which said the program had violated editorial policy and created public discontent.
Youssef said it was hard to believe that the decision to take him off air was not politically motivated.
Amy Adams and Cary Elwes seen at the special screening of Columbia Pictures and Annapurna Pictures of American Hustle, on Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2013 in Los Angeles.
Photo by Eric Charbonneau
A Norman Rockwell painting titled "Saying Grace" has been sold at a New York City auction for a record $46 million.
Sotheby's says it's the highest price ever paid at auction for an American painting and for a work by the Saturday Evening Post illustrator. The buyer wasn't disclosed.
The painting had a pre-sale estimate of $15 million to $20 million. In 2006, Sotheby's sold Rockwell's "Breaking Home Ties" for more than $15 million, then a record.
The previous record for an American painting was set in 1999, also at Sotheby's. George Bellows' work titled "Polo Crowd" sold for $27.7 million.
Another Rockwell painting, "The Gossips," sold Wednesday for just under $8.5 million, while "Walking to Church" fetched a little more than $3.2 million.
Two paintings by famed Canadian scientist Sir Frederick Banting, who co-discovered insulin, sold at a London auction Wednesday above the pre-sale estimate.
The hammer price for Banting's "Georgian Bay, Ontario" was C$34,901, while bidding on "Canadian Rockies, Alberta" closed at C$21,813 at the Bonhams Travel and Exploration sale. Both prices include the buyer's premium.
Bonhams had estimated the 27-by-34.5-centimetre oils on panel would sell for between $17,000 and $26,000 each.
Banting won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1923 for the discovery of the lifesaving treatment for diabetes, sharing the award with J.J.R. Macleod.
He died in February 1941 in a Newfoundland air disaster while serving as a Second World War medical services liaison officer.
British musician Phil Collins gestures as he talks to a reporter about his Little Dreams Foundation, Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2013, in Miami Beach, Fla. Collins announced Wednesday that his nonprofit will help South Florida children with artistic and athletic dreams to fulfill their potential. Collins created the organization in 2000.
Photo by Alan Diaz
The Newport Jazz Festival is adding a third day of music to mark its 60th anniversary and will focus that day on new and emerging acts, part of a plan to ensure the event does not become a "museum piece," festival producer George Wein said Wednesday.
At least one already familiar name - John Zorn - will be on hand to help kick off one of the world's top jazz festivals when it begins during the day, Aug. 1, rather than its traditional evening start.
"When we first came to Newport, jazz had an aspiration to be accepted as an art form," said Wein, 88, who first produced the festival in 1954 at the invitation of a Newport socialite.
Now, 60 years later, jazz has established itself, he said, and the festival has an obligation to present young and unknown talent to a wider audience.
Decades ago the festival ran as many as four days. But since the 1980s, it's covered only two full days. Typically, the festival begins on a Friday night with well-known musicians performing at the International Tennis Hall of Fame, then continues for the weekend at Fort Adams, a waterside state park that provides a spectacular setting for the music.
MSNBC host Martin Bashir resigned from the network Wednesday, nearly three weeks after making graphic remarks on his show about former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R-Quitter).
"I deeply regret" the comments, Bashir said in a statement. "It is my sincere hope that all of my colleagues, at this special network, will be allowed to focus on the issues that matter without the distraction of myself or my ill-judged comments."
His resignation, effective immediately, was accepted by MSNBC president Phil Griffin, who in a statement thanked him "for three great years" with the network.
The uproar began last month after Bashir suggested that someone should defecate in Palin's mouth because of a remark the former vice-presidential candidate made comparing the United States' indebtedness to China with slavery.
Bashir apologized days later. But the controversy continued to rage, with Palin's political action committee writing to Griffin and NBC News President Deborah Turness seeking discipline for Bashir, and Palin cancelling a scheduled interview with NBC's Matt Lauer.
Opal Perlman and Ron Perlman seen at the special screening of Columbia Pictures and Annapurna Pictures of American Hustle, on Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2013 in Los Angeles.
Photo by Eric Charbonneau
A reality television producer told a jury on Wednesday that he believes Ryan O'Neal stole an Andy Warhol portrait of Farrah Fawcett done in 1980.
Witness Craig Nevius said he formed his opinion based on conversations with Fawcett and seeing the disputed Warhol portrait in the actress' home in the final years of her life.
The producer informed the University of Texas at Austin of his concerns and the school sued O'Neal to gain possession of the artwork.
The university claims in its lawsuit that Fawcett left the painting to the school as part of a donation but O'Neal took it from Fawcett's condominium days after her death in 2009.
O'Neal's attorney attacked the credibility of Nevius, noting the producer had been removed from a leadership position on a documentary about Fawcett's battle with cancer and had been involved in several lawsuits against O'Neal.
A U.S. lawmaker critical of Wall Street is pushing the nation's six largest banks to voluntarily disclose their donations to think tanks, saying that not doing so threatens the credibility and research of these policy groups.
In a letter to JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts asked the banks to be transparent in their financial dealings with think tanks so the public could more carefully evaluate their work.
Financial institutions are required to disclose their contributions to political campaigns and their lobbying expenditures, but no law requires them to disclose their contributions to think tanks.
U.S. lawmakers often refer to the research and findings from think tanks to draft policies.
"Just as there is transparency around your direct efforts to influence policymaking through lobbying, the same transparency should exist for any indirect efforts you make to influence policymaking through financial contributions to think tanks," Warren said.
Skydivers, from all over the world, perform a group jump, the day after two skydivers were killed after colliding in midair during a jump from Skydive Arizona at Eloy Municipal Airport, on Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2013, in Eloy, Ariz. Participants said it was the best way to pay tribute to their friends in the tight-knit skydiving community who died.
Photo by Ross D. Franklin
Yum Brands Inc's KFC website in China trumpets the slogan "Trust in every bite".
That message is part of the company's new "I Commit" campaign intended to reassure customers in its largest market, who have cut back on visits since Chinese media reports a year ago about excessive antibiotic use by a few KFC suppliers.
Interviews with Chinese consumers suggest that rather than soothing concerns, the ads are reminding diners about the food safety scare at the fried chicken chain, which could undermine Yum's mission to revive sales there.
A survey conducted in November found nearly 40 percent of respondents were still very concerned about antibiotic use in KFC chickens. Yum, which cut off some of its suppliers after the television report on antibiotics, initially predicted safety fears would quickly fade. But sales at its established restaurants have yet to turn around, and it has pushed back the recovery timeline.
There's a lot at stake for Yum. It is China's largest Western restaurant operator with roughly 4,500 KFC outlets and the company reaps more than half of its overall operating profit there.
The oldest known human DNA found yet reveals human evolution was even more confusing than thought, researchers say.
The DNA, which dates back some 400,000 years, may belong to an unknown human ancestor, say scientists. These new findings could shed light on a mysterious extinct branch of humanity known as Denisovans, who were close relatives of Neanderthals, scientists added.
Although modern humans are the only surviving human lineage, others once strode the Earth. These included Neanderthals, the closest extinct relatives of modern humans, and the relatively newfound Denisovans, who are thought to have lived in a vast expanse from Siberia to Southeast Asia. Research shows that the Denisovans shared a common origin with Neanderthals but were genetically distinct, with both apparently descending from a common ancestral group that had diverged earlier from the forerunners of modern humans.
Genetic analysis suggests the ancestors of modern humans interbred with both these extinct lineages. Neanderthal DNA makes up 1 to 4 percent of modern Eurasian genomes, and Denisovan DNA makes up 4 to 6 percent of modern New Guinean and Bougainville Islander genomes in the Melanesian islands.
To discover more about human origins, researchers investigated a human thighbone unearthed in the Sima de los Huesos, or "Pit of Bones," an underground cave in the Atapuerca Mountains in northern Spain. The bone is apparently 400,000 years old.
This Pit of Bones has yielded fossils of at least 28 individuals, the world's largest collection of human fossils dating from the Middle Pleistocene, about 125,000 to 780,000 years ago.
Sex workers attend a protest demonstration after French deputies voted for a reform of prostitution law in Paris December 4, 2013. The French lower house of parliament passed a reform of prostitution law on Wednesday imposing fines on clients, a shift to tougher rules which has split the country and angered some sex workers. Lawmakers voted 268 in favour and 138 against to give France some of the most restrictive legislation on prostitution in Europe - a radical switch away from the nation's traditionally tolerant attitude. Those seeking to buy sex will now face a 1,500-euro ($2,000) fine, while the act of soliciting itself will no longer be punished. Sign reads, "Penalized clients equals AIDS".
Photo by Jacky Naegelen
"Game of Thrones" has drawn in millions of viewers. Can it bring in tourists, too?
Tourism officials in Northern Ireland say they are looking at ways to capitalize on the success of HBO's fantasy TV series.
Much of the "Game of Thrones" is filmed in Northern Ireland, which provides a backdrop of castles and rugged coastlines for the series' fictional land of Westeros.
Northern Ireland's Enterprise Minister Arlene Foster announced the tourism strategy Wednesday but gave no details.
A finished work of butterfly wing art showing the Central African Republic flag is seen in Bangui, Central African Republic, December 2, 2013. Mosaics made out of butterfly wings are a popular art form in Central African Republic. Professional butterfly hunters gather butterflies in the forest outside Bangui, then sell them to artists, who use the wings to make mosaics.
Photo by Joe Penney
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